James D. Stacy (March 27, 1930October 12, 2016), frequently referred to as Jim Stacy or J.D. Stacy, was an American entrepreneur and former

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...

Winston Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. ...

race car owner whose career spanned

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...

. His first race as an owner was the 1977 Firecracker 400 while his final race as an owner was at the

1983 Winston Western 500 The 1983 Winston Western 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race that took place on November 20, 1983, at Riverside International Raceway in Riverside, California. Qualifying Race recap There were 42 drivers; As a team owner, Stacy employed veteran NASCAR drivers such as

Neil Bonnett Lawrence Neil Bonnett (July 30, 1946 – February 11, 1994) was an American NASCAR driver who compiled 18 victories and 20 poles over his 18-year career. Bonnett was a member of the Alabama Gang, and started his career with the help of Bobby an ...

Ferrel Harris Ferrel Harris (October 8, 1940-May 7, 2000) was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver whose career spanned from 1975 to 1982. Career Harris acquired no wins, no finishes in the top-five, and five finishes in the top ten. Out of the 8975 laps that H ...

Sterling Marlin Sterling Burton Marlin (born June 30, 1957) is an American semi-retired, professional stock car racing driver. He currently competes part-time JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour, driving the No. 114 for Sterling Marlin Racing. He formerly competed in the N ...

Joe Ruttman Joe Ruttman (born October 28, 1944) is a retired American stock car racing driver who competed in NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series, Nationwide Series, and Camping World Truck Series. With 13 career wins in the Truck Series he is currently tied for 13th ...

Tim Richmond Timothy Lee Richmond (June 7, 1955 – August 13, 1989) was an American race car driver from Ashland, Ohio. He competed in IndyCar racing before transferring to NASCAR's Winston Cup Series. Richmond was one of the first drivers to change fro ...

, and

Dale Earnhardt Ralph Dale Earnhardt Sr. (; April 29, 1951February 18, 2001) was an American professional stock car driver and team owner, who raced from 1975 to 2001 in the former NASCAR Winston Cup Series (now called the NASCAR Cup Series), most notably dri ...

. Stacy's vehicles participated in 126 races with four wins, 21 finishes in the top five, and 53 finishes in the top ten. His cars have managed to lead 1,097 laps out of 30,307 – for a grand total of .

Summary

Stacy was a native of

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

. He dropped out of school in the eighth grade. He founded a construction company in 1951. Stacy made his fortune in the

coal mining Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

industry. Among Stacy's interests included business in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

with the

Rijn-Schelde-Verolme The shipbuilding company Rijn-Schelde-Verolme Machinefabrieken en Scheepswerven NV (RSV) was a combination of shipbuilding companies and machine factories founded in 1971. In 1983 the company went broke with a staggering loss of public money. It l ...

shipbuilding company, manufacturing thin-seam coal mining machines. Stacy also produced ''Stacy-Pak''

multivitamin A multivitamin is a preparation intended to serve as a dietary supplement with vitamins, dietary minerals, and other nutritional elements. Such preparations are available in the form of tablets, capsules, pastilles, powders, liquids, or injectable ...

s. In May 1977, Stacy purchased the former

K&K Insurance K&K Insurance is an Indiana-based insurance company noted for its coverage of motor sports. It was started in Fort Wayne, Indiana in 1952 by Nord Krauskopf and his wife Theodora (Teddi) Murdock to manage and market a benevolent fund for injured ...

team from

Nord Krauskopf Nord Krauskopf (January 26, 1922 – August 3, 1986) was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race car owner whose career spanned from 1966 to 1977. He was the owner of K&K Insurance and a part of the business since its foundation in 1952. This was a ...

. He was convinced to purchase the team by its crew chief

Harry Hyde Harry Hyde (January 17, 1925 – May 13, 1996) was a leading crew chief in NASCAR stock car racing in the 1960s through the 1980s, winning 56 races and 88 pole positions. He was the 1970 championship crew chief for Bobby Isaac. He inspired t ...

, a friend and former Stacy employee. Stacy inherited the team's driver

, with the team changing numbers from 71 to 5. Bonnett would score the first two victories of his career that year. The second of those victories, at

Ontario Motor Speedway Ontario Motor Speedway was a motorsport venue located in Ontario, California. It was the first and only automobile racing facility built to accommodate major races sanctioned by all of the four dominant racing sanctioning bodies: USAC (and now In ...

, would be the last NASCAR Cup victory for a

Chrysler Stellantis North America (officially FCA US and formerly Chrysler ()) is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of the multinational automoti ...

vehicle until

Dodge Dodge is an American brand of automobiles and a division of Stellantis, based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Dodge vehicles have historically included performance cars, and for much of its existence Dodge was Chrysler's mid-priced brand above P ...

reentered the series in 2001. The team expanded to a second team in 1978, but went winless and was dissolved by the beginning of the 1979 season. Stacy would later be sued by Hyde and

, one of the drivers of the second team car. In July

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

, Stacy purchased

Rod Osterlund Rod Osterlund was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series car owner spanning from 1977–1981, and then again from 1989–1991. He earned his money off rental property in California. Osterlund's first race as a car owner was at the 1977 Cam 2 Motor Oil 400 wh ...

's No. 2 team, which fielded

. Stacy proceeded to hire

as a second driver, and planned to expand the team to five entries by 1982, calling the operation "The 5 Racers". Earnhardt would have a falling out with Jim Stacy after four races, and would leave for

Richard Childress Racing Richard Childress Racing (RCR) is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Cup Series and the NASCAR Xfinity Series. The team is based in Welcome, North Carolina, and is owned and operated by Richard ...

. Stacy made headlines in early 1982, when he sponsored a total of seven entries in the

1982 Daytona 500 The 1982 Daytona 500, the 24th running of the event, was the first race of the 1982 NASCAR Winston Cup season. It was the first time that the Daytona 500 was the first race of the season. Bobby Allison would take the win in the #88 Gatorade-spon ...

, including his two team cars driven by

and

Jim Sauter Jim Sauter (June 1, 1943 – October 31, 2014) was an American stock car racing driver from Necedah, Wisconsin. He formerly raced in all three of NASCAR's national series, and is best known for having been a test driver for the International Rac ...

. After five races, Ruttman was replaced in the No. 2 by

. Richmond scored two wins for the team, but left at the end of the season. For 1983, the team scaled back to one team, hiring

Mark Martin Mark Anthony Martin (born January 9, 1959) is a retired American stock car racing driver. He has the second most wins all time in what is now the Xfinity Series with 49. He scored 40 Cup Series wins. He finished second in the NASCAR Cup Series st ...

to drive the No. 2 car. Martin was replaced by

Morgan Shepherd Clay Morgan Shepherd (born October 12, 1941) is an American retired professional stock car racing driver and current team owner. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 89 Chevrolet Camaro for Shepherd Racing Ven ...

after seven races. The team ended operations at the end of the season. With an average start of 14th place and an average finish of 17th place, Stacy's cars finished near the middle of the pack. His career winnings as a NASCAR owner were $927,815 ($ when adjusted for inflation); putting him below the

millionaire A millionaire is an individual whose net worth or wealth is equal to or exceeds one million units of currency. Depending on the currency, a certain level of prestige is associated with being a millionaire. In countries that use the short scal ...

status of most NASCAR drivers and owners. Following the end of his NASCAR career, Stacy purchased several dirt tracks in the

Southeastern United States The Southeastern United States, also referred to as the American Southeast or simply the Southeast, is a geographical region of the United States. It is located broadly on the eastern portion of the southern United States and the southern por ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stacy, Jim NASCAR team owners 1930 births 2016 deaths Defunct NASCAR teams